Charles Hackney

Martial Virtues explores the place of the martial arts in the development of moral character. It focuses on the spiritual aspects of martial arts training, attempting to answer the question of what it means to be a good warrior.

In this ground-breaking analysis, Charles Hackney draws from the psychological literature on the development of positve character traits and from the lives and experiences of admirable warriors of fact and fiction, and analyzes how the virtues of ancient and modern warriors can be developed by practicing the martial arts.

Using examples from such wide-ranging sources as the ancient Greeks to the samurai practitioners of Bushido, from Confucious all the way to Bruce Lee, the author develops a list of virtues for the ideal warrior or martial artist. Hackney scrutinizes such virtues as courage, wisdom, justice, and benevolence in turn, employing the lessons of modern psychology to understand how these virtues can be cultivated within oursleves and in others.

Charles Hackney has been a student of the martial arts since 1995, with a background that includes Hapkido, Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, and Fiore dei Liberi Armizare. He received his doctorate in psychology from the State University of New York at Albany, with a combined specialization in Personality and Social Psychology. Hackney currently serves as a psychology professor at Redeemer University College in Hamiton, Ontario, where his research focuses on the positive psychology movement and the study of character strengths and virtues.

What does it mean to be a good warrior?

Courage...Justice...Wisdom...Benevolence...

These are a few of the virtues of the ideal warrior or martial artist. But from whence do these virtues areise? Are they inheraent, o can they be cultivated adn taught? If so, how?

Spanning the globe form East to West, surveying philosophers, warriors, and civilizations from the anicent Greeks to the samurai and ninja of medieval Japan to the modern heroes of today, Charles Hackney employs the tools of the modern psychologist to examine the development of martial virtues.

In these pages, you will learn what Bruce Lee and Sun Tzu have to say about wisdom, what Miyamoto Musashi has to say about audacity and courage, and what Yagyu Munenori has to say about justice. More importantly, you will learn what modern psychology has to say about how such virtues can be cultivated, both within yourself and in others.

You will also learn the stories of many of the greatest warriors of fact and fiction, including Aeneas and Hector of Troy; William the Marshall, called the greatest knight who ever lived; Kuo Chieh, the Chinese Robin Hood; the famous Shaolin master Tid Kiu Sam; The 300 Spartans that turned aside a Persian Army at Thermoplylae; the 47 ronin of Japan who revenged the unjust punishment of their master; Korean General Kim Yu-shin, and Toshitsugu Takamatsu, 33rd Grandmaster of Togakure Ryu Ninjutsu.

Contents

Chapter 1 Martial arts and the character of the warrior
Chapter 2 Virtue ethics, positive psychology, and the martial arts
The fall and rise of virtue ethics
Alasdair MacIntyre: Virtue ethicist
Reviving Aristotle
Where do the martial arts fit with MacIntyre's approach?
The virtues in positve psychology
Psychology and the martial arts
Chapter 3 Approaches to the warrior virtues
Western warriors: Martial virtues in Greece, Rome, Europe, and America
Heroic virtues in Homer, Plato, and Virgil
Chivalry: Virtues of the Christian Knight
Fiore dei Liberi's Bestiary
North American images of the hero
Eastern warriors: Virtues within Asian ethical thought
Confucian virtues
Buddhist virues
Taoism: Virtues of 'the Way'
Warrior virtues in Asian martial arts-China, Korea, Bushido in Japan, Ninjutsu in Japan
Cross-cultural warrior virtues
Chapter 4 Courage
Defining courage
Varieties of courage
Courage interaction with other virtues
Cultivating courage in yourself-Early identification of fear; Suppression of fear; Distraction; Humanization of the enemy; Identification with a cause
Cultivating courage in others-Idealized influence; Inspirational motivation; Intellectual stimulation; Individualized consideration
Conclusion
Chapter 5 Justice
Defining justice
Varieties of justice-Justice to the self: Honor and integrity; Justice beyond the self: Piety and loyalty
Jusitce in interaction with other virtues
Cultivating justice in yourself
Cultivating justice in others
Conclusion
Chapter 6 Temperance
Defining temperance
Varieties of temperance-Humility; Self-control
Temperance in interaction with other virtues
Cultivating temperance in yourself
Fostering temperance in others
Chapter 7 Wisdom
Definitions and varieties of wisdom
Wisdom in interaction with others virtues
Cultivating wisdom in yourself
Cultivating wisdom in others
Chapter 8 Benevolence
Defining benevolence
Varieties of benevolence-Mercy; Compassion
Benevolence in interaction with other virtues
Cultivating benevolence in yourself
Cultivating benevolence in others
Conclusion
Chapter 9 Courtesy (Not a virtue, but still vital)
Chapter 10 Tying it all together: What's your story?
References
Index… (mehr)